Vehicle door latch



W. R. WILEY.

VEHICLE DOOR LATCH. FILED APR. 9, 1921.

Patented Mar. 2?, 119273.

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WILL n. WILEY, or .rrsrnnnrr, ICHIGAN.

VEHICLE DOOR LATCH.

Application filed April 9,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, WILLIAM R. WILEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ypsilanti, county of vVashtenaw, State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful improvement in Vehicle Door Latches, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

This invention'relates to door latches, es pecially adapted for vehicle bodies and the like, and has for its object an improved organization of parts whereby practical certainty of locking action may be relied upon regardless of the warping or similar distortion of the door frame relatively to the door as hungdue to the often almost imperceptible buckling of the frame -of the vehicle. My improved construction also provides for an efficient lubrication of the frictionally engaging tip of the bolt and its keeper, located in the frame of the door, without involving such a deluge of oil that the exposed surfaces of these parts will be objectionably wiped by the clothing of those who pass into and out of the vehicle.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a sectional plan View of one form of my improved latch, applied to a door and its surrounding frame.

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation, taken along the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a similar sectional elevation, taken along the line 8-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a sectional elevation, taken along the line4.4: of Figure 1, through the central portion of the actuating knob and cam.

Figure 5 is a detail sectional view of a modified form of bolt construction especially adapted for use by itself, and without the use of an actuating knob or lever.

Figure 6 is a similar detail view of another modified form, in which, for the sake of brevity of the assembled latch structure as a whole, the lubricant element is located in the center of the tubular piece, with the spring immediately outside of it, instead of toward the rear of the latch.

A represents the door frame of the vehicle body and B the body of the door. Suitably positioned in the frame A is the latchlree per C, having the inclined surface D and the vertically disposed \l-shaped bolt-holding groove E. The latch proper, located in the door B, may be actuated as to its parts either, by a knobF, and its connected lever mechanism, or by a lever mechanism only. The shell H of the latch is of course located in the body of the door opposite the latch-keeper C in the frame, so that the keeper may be engaged by the projecting tip of the longitudinally slidable bolt or latch piece, which in addition to the stem G, is composed of the tubular body-piece J, into one end of which the adjacent end of Serial No. 459,981.

the stem G is screwed, and which at its for- I ward end has its edges inturned sufficiently to holdagainst escape the rotatable or rollable contact ball K, which is adapted to engage the inclined surface D and thereafter the holding groove E of the keeper when the door is swung to closing position. The

tubular piece J, and with it its supported ball K, is yieldingly projected with respect to the shell H of the lock by the helical spring L, which (in the form f construction shown in Figure 1) is held in compression by theengagement over its end of the cap or thimble M.

Between the forward end of the stem G and the contact ball K, within the tubular body piece J, is a preferably round or tubular wick-piece N, whose forward end is in constant wiping engagement with the surface of the contact-ball as and when it rotates because of its frictional contact with the surface D of the keeper. A supply of lubricant for keeping the wick pieceN saturated may be introduced through the oil hole 0 in the wall of the tubular body piece; and in addition to the constant wiping lubrication of the contact ball K, sufficient oil makes its way out through this hole and its companion hole I to lubricate the outer surface of the tubular piece J as it moves to and fr within the latch shell H, either under manual. actuation of the knob, or be cause of its slight rearward movement against the pressure of the spring L, when the contact ball K strikes the inclined sur face D of the keeper.

The path of travel of the contact ball K along the inclined surface D of the keeper,

when the door is being closed, is along a more or less fixed or uniform line, but when the ball-tipped end of the holding bolt has settled in locking position within the V- shaped holding groove E, there is more or less of a tendency for the ball to roll up and down therealong as the almost imperceptible buckling of the frame of the vehicle when in use causes similarly slight variations in the angular position of the door relatively to its frame, and consequent variations in'the position the shell H of the latch andof its bolt relatively to the keeper C. The tendency of the bolt to rattle and waver slightly relatively to the keeper is counteracted by the resilient projection thereof at. all times toward the keeper by the spring L, and by the fact that the ball K is thereby forced at all times into contact with the two oppositely disposed sloping faces of the V-shaped groove E. As to resistance to any undesired unlocking movement of the bolt as a whole relatively to the keeper C, due for example, to a passengers falling against the door, this is cared for by the engagement of an appreciable length of the extreme forward end of the tubular piece J under or behind the overengaging angular tip of the inclined surface D of the keeper, from which position it can be dis placed only by positive and intentional lengthwise actuation of the holding bolt as a whole, due to its retraction under manual actuation of the knob. The contact ball K thus functions as a friction-reducing and anti-rattling element, but only t a limited extent as a positive locking element.

Inv the case of a pronounced warping of the frame of the vehicle, such as to produce a corresponding falling away of the door from its initial and accurately located position relatively to the frame and its attached keeper, this can be compensated for, as regards the continued firm engagement of the locking bolt in the keeper, by a comparatively slight adjustment of the nuts Q on the rearward end of the stem G, thus allowing the constant projecting action of the spring L to regularly effect greater or further projection of the entire bolt piece relatively both to its shell H and to the oppositely located keeper C in the frame of the door. v

As to the modified form of device shown in Figure 5,. which employs the same lubricant wick and contact ball features, but which is wholly automatic in its action, in that it has no actuating knob or lever, this compensating adjustment is cared for by its threading X, which engages in a complementarily threaded position of its shell H; when its increased (or decreased) projection relatively to its shell and to its keeper is desired, this is effected by turning it so that its scre threading projects or retracts it to the desired degree.

The modified form shown in Figure 6 involves no structural or functional difference from the other forms shown, but is designed to meet the need for a relatively shorter latch shell, which is accomplished by locating the lubricant wick in the exact center of the tubular shell and then surrounding it by the helical spring, which, it has been found, when compressed, exercises a more or less squeezing or pinching effect on the wick, thus tending to expel the lubricant very freely.

/Vhat I claim is:

1. In combination with a co-operating keeper having a grooved holding slot, a bolt member adapted to interlock therewith, comprising a cylindrical body piece, a contact ball held from escape in the end thereof in position to rotate about its center when its surface is in engagement with said keeper, a lubricant wick contained within said body piece in position to be rubbed by the surface of said contact ball, a stem member extending from the opposite end of said body piece from that wherein the contact ball is carried, anda spring member for yieldingly projecting said bolt member as a whole toward said keeper. I

2. In combination with a tubular body piece, a lubricant element contained therewithin, a contact ball rotatably held at one end of said body piece, a stem member extending from the opposite end of said body piece from that wherein said contact ball is carried, means for imparting lengthwise actuation to said stem member and said tubular body piece from an outside point, and a spring adapted to yieldingly oppose the retractile movement of said stem member and said body piece.

3. The combination, with a holding frame, of an externally actuable knob, and'a longitudinally projectible bolt member, comprising a stemv adjustably connected with said knob, a tubular body piece connected at one end with said stem, a lubricant wick contained within said body piece, a contact ball rotatably held in the other end of said bodypiece from that with which said stem is con nected with its surface in frictional engagement with said lubricant wick, and a spring for yieldingly holding said boltzmember in projected position. a

4. In combination with a co-operating keeper member, a locking bolt adapted to detachably engage the same, comprising a tubular body piece, a contact ball rotatably held. in oneend thereof, a spring for yieldingly pressing said bolt toward said keeper member, a lubricant member adapted to be frictionally engaged by the surface of said contact ball, a stem member extending from the opposite end of the body piece from that wherein said contact ball is located, and extcrnally actuatable means for yieldingly holding the locking bolt as a Whole in projected position with respect to said keeper member. 1

5. The combinatifi'ii, with an externally actuatable knob member, of a containing frame, and a locking bolt slidably supported thereby, comprising a tubular body piece adapted to be projected lengthwise of its axis by movement of said knob member, a contact ball-rotatably supported in the forward end of said tubular body piece, a spring for yieldingly holding said locking bolt in position relatively to the body piece, and a lubricant wick contained Within said body piece in position to be frictionally engaged by the surface of said contact ball.

6. In combination with an externally actuatable knob member, a bolt member operatively connected therewith, comprising a tubular piece having its forward end adapted to wipingly engage the oppositely disposed surface of a keeper member and to interlock therewith, a lubricating wick contained within said tubular piece in position to furnish a supply of lubricant to the toward engaging end of said tubular piece, and a spring for yieldingly holding said bolt member and its connected tubular piece in projected position.

7. In combination with longitudinally adjustable bolt piece contained therein, comprising a tubular body piece, a contact ball rotatably held in the forward end of said bolt piece, a lubricant wick contained within said tubular body piece in position of wiping contact with the surface of said contact ball, a spring for yieldingly holding said tubular body piece in projected position relatively to said holding frame, and a co-operating keeper member with whose opposing surface said contact ball is adapted to rotatably engage and interlock, thereby transferring to its surface some of the lubricant received by it from said wick.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM R. WILEY.

Witnesses E. F. RUssnLL, WILLIAM M. SWAN.

a holding frame, a 

